Visa surcharging compliance, enforced on every transaction

Visa permits surcharging on credit cards in the U.S., provided the merchant follows the network's rules on amount, card type, and disclosure. A surcharge is a fee added to the purchase price when a customer pays with a credit card, and it must be clearly disclosed before the customer pays.

• Surcharges are capped at 3% of the transaction amount
• The surcharge can never exceed your actual cost of accepting the card
• Surcharging applies to credit cards only, never debit or prepaid
• You may surcharge at the brand level or the product level, not both

Visa limits surcharges to 3% of the transaction. That is a ceiling, not a target: the surcharge must also be no higher than the merchant discount rate you actually pay on Visa credit transactions. If your effective cost is 2.6%, your maximum surcharge is 2.6%.

When state law sets a lower cap, the lower limit always wins. Integrater evaluates every applicable limit, network and jurisdiction, and applies the lowest one.

Visa prohibits surcharging debit and prepaid cards, even when they are run as credit or signature transactions. That means you cannot simply apply a flat fee to every card payment. Integrater identifies the card type at checkout from the BIN and removes the surcharge automatically for debit and prepaid cards before the customer authorizes payment.

Customers must be told about a surcharge before they commit to paying it. Visa requires disclosure at the point of entry, at the point of sale, and on the receipt.

• Point of entry: notice at the store entrance or the first page of online checkout
• Point of sale: the surcharge amount shown before the customer authorizes payment
• Receipt: the surcharge itemized as its own line, in the same currency as the purchase
• Disclosure language stating the surcharge does not exceed your cost of acceptance

Merchants must notify their acquirer at least 30 days before they begin surcharging. Integrater's onboarding checklist flags this step and records the date, so you have a clear trail if your processor or Visa ever asks.

Compliance is built into every QuickBooks invoice and payment link, not left to a settings page you have to remember to update.

• Surcharge rate capped at the lower of Visa's limit, state law, and your cost of acceptance
• Card type detected at checkout, with debit and prepaid exempted automatically
• Disclosure shown on the payment page before authorization
• Surcharge itemized on the receipt and recorded on its own line in QuickBooks